3D-printing aided resection of intratracheal adenoid cystic carcinoma and mediastinal mature cystic teratoma in a 26-yearold female: a case report

Although adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) ranks 2nd of the common histologic types, primary neoplasms of trachea only comprises around 0.2% of all respiratory carcinoma (1-3). Thus only a few centers have abundant experience, according to which, complete surgical resection remains the ideal treatment. However, resectable length of trachea should be controlled precisely for its non-renewability and poor flexibility, calling for careful preoperative evaluation. Especially for those intratracheal tumors without extension out of trachea, the localization could be quite difficult. Furthermore, if there is an anterior superior mediastinal teratoma (MT) involving the aorta besides the intratracheal tumor, operation could become much more complicated. On the other hand, 3D-printing has been well accepted and widely used in the field of surgery in recent years, making complicated surgeries much more precise and efficiency. As far as we know, here we report the first case of 3D-printing-aided resection of intratracheal ACC and anterior superior MT in one operation